I currently have a A920 on Sprint, but I have found that I have done more than just take calls on it lately. I seem always attached to my email (gmail,) I want to be close to my work email (IMAP,) I want to be able to have a good web browser (Opera Mobile looks spiffy now,) keep in contact with my AIM friends, and, most importantly, I need a 3G phone that I can link with my Mac.

And I need it to be on Sprint...

I can't seem to find my "perfect device"

So I am looking at the 8830, and I am not sure if it would be a good fit for me. Does anyone who has an 8830 have an opinion if it is really a good fit for me, or if I should be looking more towards the treo and mogul. I'm also not a fan of the RIM fee (but I paid for "unlimited vision" now, so the difference wouldn't be too huge)

I may be a good "arbiter" for you...I can only give you my experience...can't say if it is right for you.

I just switched from the Treo to the 8830. Been on it for about two weeks now. Here are my thoughts:

1. Treo is easier to use and more intuitive to get started than the BB. Any pop3 or IMAP email will work just fine (as will Exchange push)
2. I had the Treo 700p and I had problems with it crashing constantly. Before that, I'd been with the Treo since the old Treo 300 days (about 5 years or more).
3. I'm now getting used to the BB. Advantages:
- Smaller than the Treo (much)
- shortcuts and autotext work really well. Autotext in Treo was non-existent, or only applied to specific programs (not third party programs)
- battery life is much longer (about 1 day with the Treo on an extended battery, vs. 3 days with the BB)
- looks like many of the same programs and accessories are available (I use SplashID for passwords, Gmail app, GMap, Gsearch, a couple of games).
- GPS on BB is very cool, especially with the Google Maps application. Treo also has Google maps, but you have to tell it where you are.
- Service/support is nonexistent from the carriers (any carrier) on both phones. Best place to find information is on the forums (like this one).
- 8830 will work both in the US and overseas. Treo is virtually useless overseas (works fine as a PDA, but without any phone, email or data capability). Warning: roaming fees are outrageous from Sprint, Verizon and ATT (about $1.29/minute in UK).
4. When you change to the BB, you have to sign up for new contract (in order to get any kind of discount at all). My overall bill did go up. This doesn't have much to do with the BB (except for the BB service), but everything to do with the way the carriers get you to extend.
5. I can't speak to connectivity to the Mac. I know that the Treo did synch with the Mac (although you may have to get some third-party s/w to make it work effectively). Don't know about the BB in that respect.
6. Don't know about other browsers for the BB...the only one I know about is the one that comes with it. Same for the Treo.

That's about it for now...if I think of anything else, I'll add it in.

You will have more link-ability with the treo and the mac. But Coming from the 700p and 755p the only reason why I would get a treo is if I couldnt afford to pay for the $39.99 a month blackberry connect data package. The BB basically beats the treo all around but loses in 2 areas, 1. the threaded text messages are nothing like on the treo. 2. the treo's Palm OS platform has a lot more applications. But thing I dont miss from the treo is the crappy battery life and the thing crashing all the time.

You can use you 8830 via Bluetooth to connect and get online with your MAC. I do it with my MB. I had a BB tried a treo 700p and had to come back to the BB.

This is my first post here, I am a long time TreoCentral user. A few weeks ago I replaced my Treo 650 with a 755P. What a mistake. I won't go into all the issues I have, but I'm done with Treo after many years. I had a Nextel BB many years ago, and ditched it due to the coverage where I travel to. Now I want to come back too! A also want to know if the BB works nicely with Bluetooth. My Treo does not place nicely with my Toyota factory BT at all! Disconnects me all the time. I have many 3rd party palm programs. They range from great to crap, but adding them to the Treo increases the unreliability. I just want to be able to reliably make phone calls, use BT, get my email and find a few simple things on the Web. I'm willing to chuck all the rest just to get these things to work well. Does the $40/month provide true push email, and will it work well with POP and IMAP accounts? My old BB had to have my mail forwarded to a Blackberry net account. I'm going to search the forums, but this topic was so on target for me, and I'm ready to jump now. Unfortunately I just upgraded to the 755p, so I'm looking at full retail to upgrade (or adding another number).

but the BB doesn't have a touchscreen... that is my big issue... 755p does...

I'm also worried about signing another contract unless I know that it is going to work well. The iPhone is out there and I'm sure it will have 3G, push-email and more space after awhile... but it is expensive.

Bah!

Your mac doesnt have a touch screen.. You get over this in about 5 mins after you start using the scroll wheel and short cut keys. Not to mention your screen stays clean and doesnt get finger prints or junk on it.

Sprint offers a 30 day money-back guarantee, so you can always go back if you don't like it. And, I've gotten used to not having a touchscreen. Didn't take very long.

If you just bought the 755 (eg, less than 30 days) from Sprint, then you can return it. They should give you your money back, and allow you to switch to the BB. For the other stuff, it sets everything up automatically for email, no forwarding to any other account (I haven't even activated my BB email account). It works fine with IMAP and Pop3. I have both BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) for my work email that is true push, and BIS (for my pop3 accounts) on the BB, and they all work and play together well.

Also, I find that the BB works with my bluetooth (Moto 750) much better than the Treo. It connects quickly, voice commands work fine, no drops, no resets in order to get the Treo to recognize the BT, nothing wrong! Just works. Don't know about the Toyota BT, but at least with my Moto BT, it's like night and day.

I'm past the 30 days, so I'm on my own in that regard.

The Treo definitely has more bells and whistles, including the touch screen. However as one who has installed all sorts of software on his Treo's over the years, the critical decision is what matters most. If we need our devices to make clear, intelligible phone calls without many drops, and other issues, for me that outweighs any coolness factors. The same goes for emails-I have a Tablet PC that allows me to do the "big work" on my emails. I just want a heads up on what is going on when I'm away from the Tablet, as well as the ability to send quick answers. So for me the requirements in order of importance are:
1.Clear phone calls, without me ever needing to tell the other party the woes of the device I am on.
2.Excellent ability to connect in a stable manner with both my car BT and a BT headset, while maintaining the items in 1. above.
3.Read and respond to email quickly and easily.
4.Very good integration with Outlook 2007.
5 The ability to look up simple things on the web, such as phone numbers, addresses, movie times and flight schedules.

Anything beyond this is very nice, but not worthwhile if it degrades the big 5.

So that being said, is the 8830 the better device?

For me the touch screen is getting to be a pain. My Treo touchscreen dims when the device gets hot(like when I am driving in the car), and then I can't read it. The iPhone is really a cool entertainment device, but it is not designed as a phone first. You can't change out the battery, which is a deal killer for me. Especially if you use all the cool features on the iPhone, you probably won't have any battery left when your important call comes in! Also it forces you onto ATT-Apple and ATT have a years long exclusive deal. ATT screwed me over so bad, I swore I would never, ever go back. The decision is sort of like for a car-A Beemer would be really fun to drive, but I drive a minivan (at least it's loaded with lots of techno toys ) because the Beemer wouldn't meet my top needs-hauling capacity. Great product, different audience.

1. Haven't had any problems with clarity of the calls. I have heard some people on this forum complaining that their callers have some problems. Haven't experienced that myself. It's at least equivalent to the Treo.
2. Connections are rock-solid. Especially better with BT than the Treo. I had all kinds of problems with BT on the Treo 700.
3. Email is no problem...works everytime.
4. Outlook is not a problem. Especially if you are on BES. You can even delete emails both on the handheld and on the server, or not, at your wish for each account you have on the BB.
5. Web surfing is as fast or faster than the Treo. No problems.